Legacy Magazine

By Robinne Weiss

As I perused the latest issue of Legacy, I read, yet again, the mantra of Tilden’s Principles. Yet again, they were hauled out as a sort of non-violable Truth—“Thou shalt be relevant.” It sounded like a religion, not a profession. Are we working solely on our faith in the proclamations of Tilden? Have we blinkered ourselves to relevant work and ideas in other fields? Has there been no advancement in our professional thinking since 1957?

Is Tilden the only answer?

Freeman Tilden: Overused? Courtesy National Park Service.

Now, don’t get me wrong; Tilden published some great ideas and his insight is still relevant today. But as professionals, I believe we have a duty to critically evaluate the theoretical basis of our work. We need to seek out alternative ideas and test our ideas in objective ways.

So, at the risk of being labeled a heretic, I would like to provoke a healthy skepticism and discussion about Tilden’s principles, and I would like to encourage interpreters to cast their intellectual nets farther afield to benefit from the thoughts and research of others.

Evaluating Tilden
Let’s start by evaluating Tilden’s principles. If we are going to use them as the basis for interpretation, let’s make sure they are well supported by research and are relevant to interpreters. I’ll pick on two of Tilden’s principles.

Principle 3: “Interpretation is an art, which combines many arts, whether the materials presented are scientific, historical or architectural. Any art is in some degree teachable.”

This is a nice observation, but is this worthy of being hailed as a “principle” of interpretation? Has an understanding of this idea ever led to a better interpretive program or panel? I doubt it. Yet because Tilden said it was a principle, it is part of every interpretive training. We all learn it, then file it in the “need to know for the test” file, where it gathers dust once the test is over.

Principle 5: “Interpretation should aim to present a whole rather than a part, and must address itself to the whole man rather than any phase.”

This is two distinct ideas masquerading as one principle. The first idea is “aim to present a whole rather than a part.” When this idea is fleshed out in Interpreting Our Heritage, it is essentially the same idea as thematic interpretation (as explained by Sam Ham in Environmental Interpretation). The practice of thematic interpretation is well supported by research and has been more fully developed and described since Tilden. Let’s quote the current understanding of this “principle” instead.

The second idea in the fifth principle is that interpretation should “address itself to the whole man.” In other words, know your audience and their needs and interests. Engage them fully using a variety of techniques. This is worth an entire principle of its own and we can draw on extensive research in education and psychology to inform and support this principle. Let’s let go of our faith in Tilden here and look at what others can tell us.

Casting Our Nets Wider
Where can we turn for theoretical underpinning and good, practical advice? Here are just a few alternatives that I have found useful and (dare I say?) provocative:

Alternative Voices in Interpretation
For a more modern perspective on the principles of interpretation, have a look at Interpretation for the 21st Century by Ted Cable and Larry Beck. Cable and Beck have reworked Tilden’s principles and added other important principles, along with concrete thoughts on how to put them into practice. Their ideas are relevant and well considered. If I had to choose the six most important principles of interpretation, I’d leave out some of Tilden’s and add a few of Cable and Beck’s.

Science Literature
One of the best communicators in the scientific community is Edward Tufte, professor emeritus at Yale, statistician, and sculptor. Tufte’s books include Beautiful Evidence, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information, and Visual Explanations (all published by Graphics Press). Anyone who displays data on panels, brochures, reports to the board, or any other printed medium should read at least one of these. He provides real examples of how to (and how not to) present information in a visual way so that readers can easily and accurately decipher the data and the message you are trying to communicate.

Education Literature
Our audience may be non-captive and there will be no test at the end of our programs, but we can still learn a great deal from research in education. How do people transfer knowledge and skills from our programs to their home environment? A good educational psychology book can give us research-based ideas for making this happen. How do we make that unruly school group focus and pay attention? Educational research can provide us tools to do so. A few of my favorite resources from education are:

Primary Science…Taking the Plunge. Ed. Wynne Harlan. Heinemann Educational Publishers. Oxford. 1985. (This edition is out of print, but a second edition was published in 2001.)

This text is a delightful read, and worthwhile for any interpreter who falls into the trap of talking for the entirety of his or her program. It is written for elementary school science teachers, but has excellent information on how to ask the right questions, how to encourage students (visitors) to observe and ask questions, and how to guide people to an understanding of something by interacting with it.

Educational Psychology, Fourth Edition. N.L. Gage and D.C. Berliner. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1988.

My version is quite dated, but I still refer to it when I find myself having difficulty with a particular program or audience. Pick up a recent edition that incorporates the recent research.

Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. D. Lemov. (To be published in April 2010. Information and excerpts available at http://uncommonschools.org/usi/aboutUs/taxonomy.php.)

My new favorite—I can’t wait until the whole book is out. Though the techniques are aimed at school teachers, many of them are excellent pointers for interpreters, too. Where they differ, Lemov’s explanation of how and why teachers should do something has provoked me to think more carefully about why I don’t do it.

Environmental Education
I know there are interpreters who divide the world into environmental education (EE) and interpretation, highlighting the differences between the two professions, but they share a great deal of common ground. Most interpretation has a purpose. We hope that, after experiencing our interpretation, visitors will value the resource, want to learn more, or do something to help protect the resource. Environmental education has many of the same purposes. There is good research going on in EE and there are good (and often different) approaches to achieving goals in EE. Interpreters could learn a lot from environmental education’s focus on issues-based education, and the development of empowerment and ownership to effect behavior change. Some good EE reading includes:

Essential Readings in Environmental Education. Ed. H. Hungerford, W. Bluhm, T. Volk and J. Ramsey. Stipes Publishing L.L.C. Champaign, Illinois. 1998.

This text is slightly dated, but includes some of the foundational works in EE. There are many lessons for interpreters here.

Earth Education: A New Beginning. S. Van Matre. Institute for Earth Education, Greenville, West Virginia. 1990.

This book is provocative and contentious, and not research-based, but contains some great insights into sharing passion for a resource. Even if you disagree with what Van Matre has to say, I guarantee he will provoke you to think more carefully about what you do as an interpreter.

A Challenge to Interpreters
I have highlighted just a few of the resources interpreters can draw on for both theoretical and practical insights to improve our interpretation. There are many more, from fields as far flung as philosophy, public speaking, and television broadcasting. I challenge you to seek out new ways of thinking about interpretation, new theories and research to guide your work, and new insights into how to deliver your interpretive message. Then share your new discoveries with the rest of us. Write an article for Legacy that does not mention Tilden, but draws insight and inspiration from some of the other great writers and thinkers around us.

Robinne Weiss is an interpreter and consultant based in Leeston, New Zealand. She can be reached at Robinne@InterpTech.com. The author thanks her husband, Ian Dickie, a scientist who provokes her to question interpretive theory and practice.